About
sixe or seaven new molded Gallants, (whose outsides were silke and
slashes,
and their insides jeeres and flashes) were invited to a worthy
cittizens
House to dinner, where amongst a great deale of other good cheare,
there
was brought to the Board a Jury of Woodcockes in one Dish, laid Head to
Head in the center of the platter, as fantastick Travailers and their
Wives
doe lie feete to feet in the great Bed of Ware, sometimes by
dozens.
These Guests (beeing loath to conceale their small Talents of wit) had
an especiall Art to breake ten good jeasts of other mens, before they
were
able to make one good one of their own: they began to jybe at the
Woodcockes,
and said they were a Jury Empanaell'd; another sayd, it was hard to
judge
whether they were a petty, or a Grand-Jury: a third said, that he
thought
that those twelve were an Embleme of the twelve Companies. The Citizen
(being a Gentleman of place and eminence) not thinking their eering
worthy
of his anger, would not set his gravity against their foppery; yet thus
mildly he answered them. You are welcome Gentlemen, and I do wish that
my entertainment were better for you, but it shall be taken away, for I
do assure you, that I never had so many Woodcockes at my Table at one
time
in all my life; but I thinke the fault is not in my Cater, for here are
at least halfe a dozen more then he provided. So hee commaunded one
that
waited on, to take away the roasted Woodcockes from the rest.